Photo-Diaries: La guagua (Cuba)

About: Habana’s public transport / Transporte público de La Habana

The old fashion cars from Cuba are very well known, but have you ever wondered about their local public transport?

Cubans have two different kinds of money, the “CUP” (peso cubano) and the “CUC” (peso convertible). So, the first ones is the money that just local people can use, and 24 CUP are equivalent to $1 USD. The second one is the money that, as a tourist, every of us have to use, 1 CUC is the same amount as $1 USD.

Then what happens with their public transport?

Public transport is just very fluent in La Habana, in the rest of the 14 provinces there is not ‘Guaguas’, there are just big trucks called ‘Camellos’ and some taxis. Country’s law prohibits tourists travel in public transport, or any transport that charge in Cuban pesos. Cubans pay the equivalent to $0,40 USD per travel.

Guaguas are always so full of people, people goes into the bus’ corridor until no one fits on it. Some of the cubans choose to walk, but some of them have to do it even if they catch ‘guaguas’ as they live out of downtown.

When I was visiting La Habana last year, I really wanted to travel on this ones, as I was not allowed, just decided to watch them from outside.

If you are visiting La Habana, you have to travel in taxis, ‘coco-taxis’, on rides pulled by horses, but no in La guagua.